I too am a newbie and after much consideration and research I ended up buying the Singer Confidence. I just started quilting in March on my old Kenmore which was good, but I wanted to get something with a few more features so I could FMQ at home (would really love to be able to afford a long arm!). Anyway I got it in June and have sewn about 6 toppers with it, haven't actually tried fmq, but an planning on experimenting this weekend to catch myself up. While I have only had it a few months, it has been very good to me!